BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 5698

By: Bell, Cecil

Intergovernmental Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, the board of directors of the Harris-Montgomery Counties Management District are appointed by the Harris County Commissioners Court on recommendation of candidates by the sitting board of directors. The bill author has informed the committee that, at the time of creation, the district was located entirely in Harris County but that the district has subsequently grown through annexation and now includes tracts in Montgomery County, where most of the active development is occurring, as well as Waller County. H.B. 5698 would allow the district's board of directors to file a petition with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to appoint directors as an alternative to requesting appointments from the Harris County Commissioners Court. The bill also seeks to rename the district under statute as the Southeast Regional Management District.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 5698 amends the Special District Local Laws Code to rename the Harris-Montgomery Counties Management District to the Southeast Regional Management District. The bill gives the district's board of directors of the option of petitioning the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to appoint persons to serve on a succeeding board as an alternative to recommending to the Harris County Commissioners Court persons to serve on a succeeding board. The bill changes the condition triggering the requirement that the TCEQ appoint the succeeding board based on the board's recommendations of persons to serve on the succeeding board from a finding that any provisions relating to the appointment of the directors are invalid to the board petitioning the TCEQ for the appointment as provided by the bill's provisions.

H.B. 5698 establishes that all applicable requirements relating to the following have been fulfilled and accomplished with respect to the bill:

·the legal notice of intention to introduce;

·governor action;

·TCEQ recommendations; and

·the state constitution and laws and legislative rules and procedures.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.